by Sue Hodgson –
I was walking one of my dogs the other day and was greeted by a client of mine, since retired but still living in the community. With a bright, wide-eyed smile he asked: “Sue, I just love your magazine! After all these years how do you continue to come up with such great content?” I smiled back and replied: “look around us, our community has so much to offer; you just have to dig a little to uncover some of the real treasures!”
He went on to say: “Seaside has really become part of our community, a real pleasure to read and it possesses such personality. But how do you do it? It must be so much work!” I bring this up to raise a few points about creating balance in our lives. I have a confession: I was a workaholic in my 20s. I badly wanted not only to achieve, but to overachieve: to go farther, faster and do more than anyone else. Whatever it took to get ahead in my career, that’s what I spent time doing. I was really happy during those years and honestly don’t regret a moment of all that hard work.
Today, I still work very hard but I have a keener appreciation for all the non-work pleasures life can bring. When I’m away from work, I try really hard to stay away from it. Don’t get me wrong: there are many 5:30 a.m. days thinking up and creating new ideas for the magazine. But the reality is, you’re going to be a better, more effective person with your work if you have a more satisfying personal life. So, I responded by saying: “I truly love what I do and I think having that passion makes all the difference; it makes it so easy, really.” Maybe using the word passion sounds cliché, but I believe it’s absolutely true. And how great is it that I make a living doing what I love!
I don’t suggest I know it all – far from it. But it’s always fascinating once in a while to look back over my career and life. What has struck me, time and time again as I recalled stories and thought of the experiences that have shaped me, is how lucky I’ve been. But we create our own luck, don’t we?
Opportunities will come … they always do. We just need to see them, add that passion and wow, the world is our oyster!
Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there!
Photo by Janis Jean Photography. Clothing provided and styled by Cottons and Blues.
For more, visit www.cottonsandblues.com.
